Resilient rail spike



Jan. 23, 1940.

B. KUCKUCK RESILIENI RAIL SPIKE Filed April 10, 1939 "lll 2 1 lda lNV N'roR @2214 IM Patented Jan. 23, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE RE SILIENT RAIL SPIKE Application April 10, 1939, Serial No. 267,059

4 Claims.

-The invention aims to provide an elastic rail spike which may be formed by simple shaping operations from lengths of plain rectangular stock, to provide one or more resilient arms adapted to apply and efiectively maintain adequate elastic pressure upon a rail flange, the spike being readily driven into the ordinary rectangular spike holes as usually provided for railway ties and tie plate. Further objects and advantages of the invention will be in part obvious and in part specifically referred to in the 4 description hereinafter contained which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, discloses certain preferred forms of rail spike which are constructed to operate in accordance with the inventon. In the drawing- Fig. 1 is a side view showing one form of rail spike constructed to operate in accordance with the invention, the spike being shown in operative position with respect to the adjacent parts of a rail flange, tie and tie-plate.

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the spike shown'in Fig. 1.

Fig. 3 is a detail section on the broken line 3-3 of Fig. 2.

Figs. 4 and 5 are respectively a front and side elevation of a blank from which the spike of Figs.

1 to 3 may be readily made.

Figs. 6 and '7 are respectively a front elevation and a side elevation of a somewhat modified form of spike constructed to operate in accordance with the invention.

The spike of the present invention is characterized by a shank I of solid metal which is substantially square in cross sectiop, and which accordingly may be readily made from plain square metal stock, which will fit holes 2 of rectangular cross section, such as are usually provided in a tie-plate 3, as well as the similar holes 4 which usually are preformed'in a tie 5.

The upper portion of the spike which bears resiliently upon the upper rail flange 6, is also specially constructed so as to be readily formed from plain square stock as above mentioned, and is looped spirally downward to provide one or more resilient arms projecting crosswise of the shank to overlie the rail flange 6. In the form of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the upper portion of the spike is looped as above described 50 to provide a portion 1 which extends away from the shank (in a direction opposite to the side of the shank which is to be positioned next to the rail) and then spirally downward as shown at 8 in Figs. 1 and 2, and then crosswise of the shank I to provide a resilient arm 9 which extends crosswise of the shank I on one side thereof, and projects beyond the shank to provide a portion III which overlies and presses down upon the rail flange 6', when the spike is in operative position. Preferably the parts I to ID of the spike, as above 5 described, taper gradually in thickness as best shown in Fig. 1 so as to have elasticity which increases gradually from the shank to the rail flange engaging portion III of the arm 9. For elastic pressure to be effectively applied and 10 maintained upon .the rail flange 6 it is very'advantageous that the arm 9 have a long radius of bending, and that the stresses be quite uniformly distributed throughout a relatively long length of the upper part of the spike, instead of being localized. The looped construction of the upper end of the spike as, above described affords such a long radius of bending, notwithstanding that as shown in claim 1 the shank of the spike may abut the rail flange, and the tapering thickness above described further assists in distributing the bending stresses uniformly along the parts I, 8 and 9 above described. As shown in Figs. 4 and 5 the spike may be readily formed from a plain piece of square metal stock of proper length, merely by tapering one end of the blank as indicated by the numerals Ia, 8a, 9a and Illa, to provide cross sections appropriate for the parts I to ID of the completed spike. The shank portion Ia of the blank needs no shaping operations whatso- $0 ever unless a pointed lower end is to be provided on the shank. Then the upper end of the spike may be bent into the shape shown in Figs. 1 and 2. The tapering operation above referred to, may readily result in a resilient arm 9 which gradually increases in width as it reduces in thickness, as shown in Figs. 2 and 4, thus providing a wider rail engaging portion II] for the arm 9 which affords greater bearing area against rail flange 6. The spike may be readily driven into position in the usual way, a cylindrical piece (not shown) being preferably inserted to fill the cylindrical space enclosed by the parts I, 8 and-9 during the driving operation, and the spike may be withdrawn by the use of usual tools, preferably also 5 I with the aid of a cylindrical piece as above mentioned. I In Figs. 6 anfll a somewhat modified spike construction is shown, having a shank I I similar to the shank I above described. In this instance the upper portion of the spike is forked to provide portions 1b, 8b, 9b and IIlb which are respectively similar to the parts I to I0 previously described except that the portions 8b are curved downwardly in oppositely directed spirals so that the resilient arms 9b extend crosswise of the shank I l on opposite sides of the latter, as shown in Fig. 6. Thus the resilient pressure is distributed between two resilient rail flange engaging portions lllb which are located on opposite sides of the shank H. The spike shown in Figs. 6 and '7 may be readily driven into position with the aid of a set I2 fitting into the crotch [3 (Fig. 6) of the spike, and if desired the upper portion of the shank may be provided with side flanges l4, which prevent it from being driven in too far, these flanges l4 also assisting in the withdrawal of the spike by the use of a claw tool as known in the art. The spike construction shown in Figs. 6 and 7 may also be readily made from plain square metal stock, the shank ll needing no .special shaping except at the upper end above the flanges M where the stock is slightly flattened to form the flanges. At the upper end the stock is then tapered in thickness as previously described and split to provide the forked upper portions lb to lllb which then are bent around to the final shape described.

While the invention has been disclosed as embodied in rail spikes of the above described specific constructions, it should be understood that changes may be made therein without departing from the invention in its broader aspects, within the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An elastic rail spike having a shank of solid metal which shank consists of a single length of metal substantially square in crosssection, and an upper portion extending from said shank which is of looped shape to provide a curved portion extending away from the shank and then spirally downward, said spike having a resilient arm projecting crosswise of the shank from said last mentioned curved portion, said resilient arm being constructed and arranged to overlie and press down upon a rail flange, said spike being gradually reduced in thickness from the upper part of the shank along said looped portion and resilient arm to the rail engaging portion of said resilient arm.

2. An elastic rail spike having a shank of solid metal which shank consists of a single length of metal substantially square in cross section, and an upper portion extending from said shank which is of looped shape to provide a curved portion extending away from the shank and then spirally downward, said spike having a resilient arm projecting crosswise of the shank from said last mentioned curved portion, said resilient arm being constructed and arranged to overlie and press down upon a rail flange, said spike being gradually reduced in thickness and increased in width from the upper part of the shank along said looped portion and resilient arm to the rail engaging portion of said resilient arm.

3. An elastic rail spike having a shank of solid metal which is substantially square in cross section, and forked upper portions joined to the shank at its top, said upper portions being of looped shape to provide curved portions extending away from the shank and then spirally downward, said curved portions having resilient arms projecting therefrom which run crosswise of the shank on opposite sides of the latter, said resilient arms being constructed and arranged to overlie and press down upon a rail flange.

4. An elastic rail spike having a shank of solid metal which is substantially square in cross section, and forked upper portions joined to the shank at its top, said upper portions being of looped shape to provide curved portions extending away from the shank and then spirally downward, said curved portions having resilient arms projecting therefrom which run crosswise of the shank on opposite sides of the latter, said resilient arms being constructed and arranged to overlie and press down upon a rail flange and being of reduced thickness as compared to said shank.

BERTHOLD KUCKUCK. 

